The Sacred Heart Minor Seminary of the Catholic Church located in Jalingo, Northern Nigeria was on Monday morning attacked by herdsmen making it about the third time the catholic church would suffer attack from the herdsmen in the northen region of NIgeria in a space of one month.
In a statement issued and supplied to many social media platforms on Monday, the rector of the seminary, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Atsue said the attack was carried out at about 12:30am by sophisticated armed Fulani Herdsmen
He said the residents of the seminary heard their conversation while “they were shooting sporadically at the Rector’s residence, broke window glasses in the process, (litered live bullets were collected by police) windscreen of one of the vehicles belonging to one of the priests, they shot and injured one of the priests Rev. Fr. Cornelius kobah on the leg, beat up Fr. Stephen Bakari.”
He said from the conversation of the herdsmen they were able to understand that their grievances against the seminary was that “the security men in the Seminary have been challenging their decision to graze right inside the Seminary: around the classes, football field, laundry etc. They said even inside the church if they see grass their cows will graze.”
Atsue who said he was speaking on behalf of the bishop of the diocese Most Rev. Charles Hammawa, however said normalcy was temporarily being restored due to the prompt response from the Nigerian Police, Army, Civil Defense and local vigilantee.
He expressed thanks to God that all students of the seminary were safe and none is missing. He however regretted that “two of them suffered injuries from the sticks of the herdsmen.”
Due to the incidence, a one-week break was approved for the seminarians to enable them manage trauma for a while and to show themselves to their parents that they were safe.
Atuse then called on Christians throughout the country to continue to pray and work and work for the peace in Nigeria.